Reich Labor Service

The Reich Labor Service (RAD) was the official state labor service of Nazi Germany, later evolving into a labor army during wartime. The RAD was formed on 26 June 1935 during the Great Depression, and its goal was to mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, to militarize the workforce, and to indoctrinate workers with Nazism. The labor service had separate divisions for males and females, and men aged between 18 and 25 had to serve in the RAD for six months before their Wehrmacht service. During World War II, young women were also forced into the RAD for six months, and the RAD provided support for the German military during the war. The RAD supplied frontline troops with food and ammunition, repaired damaged roads, constructed and repaired airstrips, built coastal fortifications, laid minefields, manned fortifications, guarded vital locations and prisoners, dug trenches, served on Flak 88 batteries, and later served as reservists for the Wehrmacht. The inexperienced RAD members fought on the Eastern Front during the final months of the war, and they also fought in Operation Market Garden. The RAD was disbanded in May 1945 with the fall of Nazi Germany.